Pro Torture/Terrorisim

Imagine, you have a terrorist in custody, and this terrorist knows the location of a bomb that will detonate and end thousands of American lives, is it ethically justified to torture this terrorist in order to obtain the critical intelligence needed to locate and disarm the bomb, saving thousands of lives? This is a scenario called the ticking time bomb scenario, it may be an extreme scenario, but none the less, it is possible, would you let ethics get in the way of saving those people’s lives? This is a very shadowy corner of the human psyche, there is no black and white when it comes to situations like this, only endless shades of grey that bleed into each other endlessly. Many people’s idea of torture is inflicting devastating bodily harm on a person’s body, and that is what the dictionary says it is, but in these modern times, the main element of political torture is the presence of fear, no bodily harm is necessary in some cases. The most commonly used method of torture is water boarding, which simulates drowning, and has been a key element in preventing insurgent operations. Many people argue that torture yields faulty or incomplete intelligence, but there are documented situations where torture has aided in saving lives. This is only my opinion, torture is made illegal to POW's, medical personnel, and any others captured by a hostile country by the Geneva Convention, but as we have seen by Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker, our enemies don't care. How far would you go to save a life?

There are plenty of forms of torture that leave no physical scars, there is psychological torture which is threatening to kill ones family, or falsely claiming that one’s terror cell leader is dead. There is sensory deprivation, which was used in Guantanamo, which is when you bind, blindfold, and earmuff prisoners for extended periods of time. Starvation and thirst, which is when a prisoner is given just enough food and water, unpleasant food and water if I might...

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...Torture is Justifiable
The limited use of torture should be permitted in the US in order to protect the wellbeing of the public. Torture can be both an effective means of gathering information, and it can be reasonably justified in some circumstances. Some of these circumstances can be any time where there is a huge amount of human wellbeing are in danger. With out a doubt, some people may be worried that allowing torture may make way for several human rights violations. However, this is not the case, torture can be used with moral justification. Now the true questions is proposed; “Can torture ever be an acceptable form of acquiring information?” Regardless of what many people might believe, there is a large amount of evidence that suggests that torture can be, if done correctly, a very effective way of acquiring information needed for the safety of the general public. Take for example, the French military using several sorts of torture in Algeria. In 1956, the Algerian National Liberation Front started up a terrorist bombing campaign that often targeted the public. Because of said campaign, the French government initiated a counterinsurgency campaign in order to defeat the Algerian National Liberation Front. This campaign included a number of torture techniques witch were used a handful of times. With the use of these techniques and a highly...

...Is Torture Reliable or Humane?
Imagine being forced into confession with your head down, and blood rushing to your brain. Picture the struggle of being held down and defenseless, against your will. Imagine having a thick towel pressed firmly over your face and continuous water being poured on the towel as you helplessly gasp for air simulating the effect of drowning. Imagine being bound and thrown into the ocean with a ‘weight’ that pulls you in only one direction: down to the bottom of the ocean floor. Do you think this kind of action is right to do to a criminal or let alone a human?
Torture is the action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment in order to force them to do or confess something. History has changed from uncivilized torture techniques to civilized torture and then back again. There has been crucial maltreatment on prisoners and suspected criminals. The crucifixion of Christ by the Romans is a huge example of torture. The Romans beat and whipped Christ, pinned his hands and feet with needles onto a wooden cross, and put a thorny crown around his head. Back then, even great thinkers defended torture saying it was protecting civilization, and bringing control to the people. They had no limit to who they were torturing. The Romans began to create laws allowing only certain subjects and crimes that could entail torture, but as time...

...United States has the right to torture prisoners of war (suspected terrorists) in order to acquire vital information that is required to protect our country and its citizens.
Terrorists are not regular soldiers in a regular war. They do not even merit POW (prisoner of war) status as stated by the Geneva Convention passed by the United Nations and approved by the Supreme Court. Colin Powell stated that “bestowing POW status on detainees who do not meet the clear requirements of the Geneva Convention would undermine the rule of law giving equal protections and privileges to all combatants regardless to their respect to the law.” This is not a regular war because we are not fighting against a country; we are fighting religious extremists. Terrorists are not part of an organized military, have no uniforms, and do not represent a country or legitimate state, and therefore, are not protected nor deserved to be protected under the Geneva Convention.
Despite the agreed Geneva Convention, this nine-year war has resulted in different opinions on how protocol should be run halfway across the globe in our country. A very prominent issue between politicians today is the issue of torture. Torture sounds like a horrible word, and when spoken the thought of inhumane treatment, pain, and misery come to mind. But there are different forms and types of torture that are not so cruel. The United States has been...

...Torture: Controversy and the fine line between right and wrong
Ever since September 11 attacks and the subsequent War on Terror and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, there seems to be an ongoing debate in American society about the acceptability of torture as means of extracting information, occasionally rekindled by scandals such as Guantanamo or Abu Ghraib. We have seen a disturbing rise in public argumentation in favor of torture, frequently mentioning the so-called “ticking bomb scenario”, in which torture is seen as the lesser of two evils when weighed against thousands or millions of lives that information obtained from the tortured prisoner could save. The never-ending debate about the likelihood of such a scenario aside, use of torture in interrogation is impermissible because it is unethical and inhumane, it is against US laws as well as international conventions the US is a signatory of, and it goes against fundamental values the US was built on.
Psychologists Julio Arenas and Stine Amris (2004), the authors of a study about the rehabilitation of torture victims, define torture as “the infliction of severe pain (whether physical or psychological) by a perpetrator who acts purposefully and on behalf of the state". Torture seems to be universally regarded as inherently unethical and inhumane. Even the most hardcore propagators of this practice resort...

...Torture is the act of inflicting physical and psychological pain. The three main purposes that Democratic governments use torture are to intimidate, to coerce false confessions, and to gather accurate security information. Torture is not only a method that has been used in countries notorious for corrupt government dictatorships such as Russia, Japan, and Germany but has also been prevalent in democracies. The use of torture in democracy is a shame, not only do secret CIA kidnappings, and the indefinite detention at Guantanamo Bay go against the basic elements of a democracy, it has also been proven to be ineffective or less effective than traditional intelligence gathering, and it creates a slippery slope effect.
The four basic principles of a democracy are having a political system where people can choose and replace officials through free and fair elections, the active participation of the people as citizens, in politics and civil life, the protection of the human rights of all citizens, and a rule of law where all laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens. Physical torture techniques (strikes to the body and using everyday instruments to inflict physical torture) were first recorded in “military punishments, especially among British lists of punishments; in the context of American slavery; in penal institutions; or during policing and military operations in French and British...

...The Case Of Torture
Tick-tock. Tick-tock. The clock ticking down the FBI agent notices while conducting his interrogation. Little to nothing is coming out of the detainee’s mouth. They’ve been talking to him for over 7 days. “Now might be a good time to crank it up” , the sergeant said.
“We haven’t got the authorization yet” reply the captain.
“Who cares about authorization?” reply the C.I.A agent. The detainee has been forced to stay up for the whole week without any food. He is chained by the wrists and ankles, wearing only a black bag on his head. He was listening to loud music and all the sudden the music paused. “All you have to do is tell us where you hide it and we’ll stop the process!” the C.I.A agent scream at him. How far would you go to protect the people you love the most? As torture is such an emotion subject, it is difficult to ensure that the facts are truly represented. There are numerous, ethical conflicts that can be applied to the topic of torture. Often people associate the word torture with the images of medieval torture instruments; Such as a branding irons and head screws. It is important for the citizens of America to understand that the government does not use these medieval methods, and the reasons why some people are being subject to torture.
First of all, there are many torture techniques that US use as a method to get terrorist to...

...The Case against Submitting to an Inner Barbarian: Why Torture Is Never Justified
In a post-9/11 world, where it seems that terrorism is rampant and increasing numbers of extremists threaten the safety and wellbeing of American citizens, is it ever justified to bend the rules of legality and morality while fighting the war on terror? Whether or not the use of torture as an interrogation tactic is justified in these circumstances is questionable because of controversy about its legality, morality, and effectiveness; the use of torture would violate several international and domestic laws as well as compromise American morals and beliefs. Despite this controversy, the United States has employed these tactics in recent years to questionable effect; however, the use of it is illegal, immoral and ineffective. Torture should not be used in any circumstance because it violates American morals, political treaties, and laws, would diminish the reputation of the United States in the world, has not been proven effective by scientific evidence, and would create a future of uncertainty regarding the use of torture.
Torture is never justified because it defies moral values of both humans and the United States. Humans have the obligation to “respect the honor and dignity of other human beings” (Fried), even if that respect and dignity is not returned. Once tactics such as torture...

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ENGL 1301 Composition I
November 9, 2013
Is Torture justified?
What is torture? Basically, this is the action of physically or psychologically hurting a person without their permission and against their will. The torture has many goals such as obtaining a confession or information of the victim, revenge for an act committed by the victim or just for entertainment morbid and sadistic of the torturer. According to the 1984 United Nations Convention against Torture, the torture is:
“any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions.”
Torture is not acceptable because it is degrading and ethically wrong, but under certain circumstances torture can be justified. Torture is justifiable if lives of innocent people are in risk or if an...